In your opinion, why did Chief Justice John Roberts side with the liberal justices to uphold Obamacare?

by Washington Times Posted 2012/07/03 14:23:37

Related Topics: Obamacare, Democrat, Constitution, Conservative, Democrats, Justice, Chief Justice John Roberts, Liberal, Political

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3,542 votes
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Lightning Report View Results and Demographics + View Demographics

	Roberts is a liberal, not a conservative. We were duped!
	Roberts buckled under political pressure.
	Roberts voted according to his conservative principles.
	Roberts outfoxed everyone and boxed Obamacare and the Democrats into a corner.
	Roberts does not understand the Constitution.
	Undecided (Please leave a comment)

Loading Demographics... Click an icon to see demographic results Display unknown and private
	Roberts is a liberal, not a conservative. We were duped!	395 votes	11%
	Roberts buckled under political pressure.	1,632 votes	46%
	Roberts voted according to his conservative principles.	143 votes	4%
	Roberts outfoxed everyone and boxed Obamacare and the Democrats into a corner.	1,005 votes	28%
	Roberts does not understand the Constitution.	212 votes	6%
	Undecided	155 votes	4%

Add a comment above

Rebel Yell 2012/07/03 14:41:17

Roberts voted according to his conservative principles.

+3
We will never know if emotion played into the ruling. There are always those who study chief justices and write about them. Roberts worked for the Reagan admin.and was probably influenced by decisions made during those days. Those who have studied his rulings over the years see a pattern. If Roberts sees even a slim interpretation of the Constitution and he can justify it, that is the path he follows. ACA passed because of one word... penalty. The Constitution refers to taxes as "fees, levies, and penalties". That is all John Roberts needed.
>> See Replies

JacquesDitte 2012/07/10 14:36:53

Roberts buckled under political pressure.

Dictator to Roberts: "It's Healthcare, or YOUR family :), you decide!"

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Theresa 2012/07/04 04:01:54

Undecided

Some people speculate he was affected by the drugs he took. I for the life of me will never understand why he took a patiently Unconstitutional Law and forced it to be considered Constitutional.

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linda.bibee 2012/07/03 21:06:27

Roberts voted according to his conservative principles.

He' not a liberal in any sense. I don't think he wants his legacy to be known as the chief justice that caused the downfall of Obama's healthcare plan!! It's not the courts job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices. He wants to leave a good legacy I just hope he wasn't only thinking of himself without concern for the American people !!

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tom 2012/07/03 19:16:52

Roberts voted according to his conservative principles.

+2
Maybe he didn't receive the memo that conservatives were against this right now. All kidding aside, maybe, just maybe, he was being a true conservative unlike the radicals on this website and based his answer on the consitution and his own opinion; not the opinions of others.

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voice_matters 2012/07/03 18:29:24
jackolantyrn356 2012/07/03 17:44:13

Roberts is a liberal, not a conservative. We were duped!

Comrade Roberts lied to the NATION, He's not changed a thing. He's just a "Get Along Gang" member with Obummer

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Herb 2012/07/03 17:30:27

Roberts outfoxed everyone and boxed Obamacare and the Democrats into a corner.

+1
we know its a tax and now 52% want it repealed see its a tax on the middle class now will kick the dems and obama in the ass.

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Ken 2012/07/03 17:25:35

Roberts buckled under political pressure.

+1
Robert's legacy is more important to him than America's legacy.

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Jackie G - Poker Playing Pa... 2012/07/03 17:22:39

Undecided

+1
There were 11 pages of argument on the tax position - one that the Obama lawyers have been making since the first suit - He decided that it was indeed a tax - and, of course it is. It was a tax in the original bill and the wording was changed so it would pass. Obama and democrats purposefully lied and lied and lied - and are doing so now. Congress can only levy taxes (and spend) - it was never anything else. Or problem was that we believed Obama and his minions - that is our fault. Time to toss the liars out and repeal this crap bill

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Bill in Niantic 2012/07/03 17:15:26

Roberts outfoxed everyone and boxed Obamacare and the Democrats into a corner.

+1

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voice_m... to Bill in... 2012/07/03 18:30:43

nice in 2008 we all voted ad the majority wanted obamacare then and we will see what they want in november

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tblackb 2012/07/03 17:00:24

Undecided

he probably voted the way he did for two reasons. 1st to maintain the creditability of the court. citizens united was such a bad decision it looks like the court was just handing down partisan decisions and that's not the job of the court.

2nd the healthcare system needs reforming. the states are complaining that its their job to fix yet they have done nothing in this are for the past 20-30 years. If there was a different option (another plan) that was available to american citizens, he may have voted against this plan.

everyone needs to remember the United States is the few industrialized country in the world that doesn't have a universal health care system, yet, we consider our country to be the greatest in the world...

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jdemme 2012/07/03 16:15:22

Roberts voted according to his conservative principles.

As Chief Justice, he had to make an unbiased decision, and he realized that it was a very important one. He also knew that if the court ruled the Patient Protection Act null and void, it would be a rallying cry to the left, and millions of people would not get insurance.

If it wasn't Roberts who upheld it, and instead Kennedy, then the case could be made that Kennedy buckled under pressure. But the fact the it was the Conservative Supreme Justice who upheld it makes the case for it being unconstitutional sort of dust in the wind.

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cddjmikey 2012/07/03 15:57:15

Roberts buckled under political pressure.

I think he was trying to make null and void all accusations that the court was biased by giving them a partial victory. He called it a tax which means they have to start over and take a re-vote on it in it's present wording. A lot of democrats are up for re-election in tough fights and the thought of voting for a massive tax increase is not looking so good. Roberts should still step down though. He gave us an easy way to dispose of it but he shouldn't have passed the buck !

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David 2012/07/03 15:45:31

Roberts voted according to his conservative principles.

Roberts holds life tenure so obviously he didn't buckle under pressure!

However he was clear sighted enough to see that whatever Obama and Romney wanted to call the obligation to buy health insurance, that it was a tax.

It is a conservative principle that the Congress has the right to tax regardless of the popularity of so doing!

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Morningstar 2012/07/03 15:44:27

Undecided

Listened to many opinions as to why it went down this way - it's hard for me to make sense of it all - hopefully it will work out for the american people - healthcare for all sounds really good to me!

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Bronar 2012/07/03 15:33:37 (edited)

Roberts voted according to his conservative principles.

+1
I have to go with what he said, to paraphrase...The purpose of the Supreme Court is to judge laws as Constitutional or not, not to correct the electorate when they vote in the wrong guy and his policies. Let's get Romney in and this whole mess out.

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Bella 2012/07/03 15:25:58

Roberts voted according to his conservative principles.

+1
Roberts just proved that he is a constitutional conservative.

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3003573 2012/07/03 15:10:33
I. Car Rus 2012/07/03 15:06:02

Undecided

I almost voted for the "outfoxed", but since I believe him a man of integrity I would not choose that. I was shocked he voted with the majority. Goes to show you never can tell.

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Yanksare1 2012/07/03 14:57:29

Roberts buckled under political pressure.

This has been one big lesson in bullying. It started before Obama took office while he was on the campaign trail degrading and insulting the court and it continued in Obamas first state of the union address when he called out the justices and it carried through this vote as Obama was hurling comments at the court as they were deciding this case. Obama taught us how to lie to and bully the supreme court. We should all be thankful

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Morning... to Yanksare1 2012/07/03 15:47:53

+1
Of all the possibilites as to why Roberts voted as he did, "buckled under political pressure" is NOT the reason - I don't see Roberts as a pawn - SC Justices are there for life, he wants to leave a good legacy for himself...

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voice_m... to Yanksare1 2012/07/03 18:38:42

and you are an ignorant lib and blocked. tis thread has nothing to do with ho much you hate obama.

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ConLibFraud 2012/07/03 14:51:11

Roberts is a liberal, not a conservative. We were duped!

You needed "none of the above" or "other"!!!!

The judges are owned and controlled just as the politicians and media are.

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Morning... to ConLibF... 2012/07/03 15:48:29

Doubt if Roberts is a "liberal"

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ConLibF... to Morning... 2012/07/03 16:51:26

You didn't read my post did you?

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Roger47 2012/07/03 14:45:41

Roberts outfoxed everyone and boxed Obamacare and the Democrats into a corner.

He wanted to destroy the Commerce Clause, and give the Republicans a campaign issue.

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Morning... to Roger47 2012/07/03 15:49:37

I've heard this theory Roger and I hope and I guess choose this not to be true - it would be so wrong on so many levels!

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Roger47 to Morning... 2012/07/03 20:47:36

So was Citizens United.

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KrSpo 2012/07/03 14:44:24

Undecided

+1
Roberts decided as to how the argument presented itself. He found it to be Constitutional. That is his job, and he did it

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Rebel Yell 2012/07/03 14:41:17

Roberts voted according to his conservative principles.

+3
We will never know if emotion played into the ruling. There are always those who study chief justices and write about them. Roberts worked for the Reagan admin.and was probably influenced by decisions made during those days. Those who have studied his rulings over the years see a pattern. If Roberts sees even a slim interpretation of the Constitution and he can justify it, that is the path he follows. ACA passed because of one word... penalty. The Constitution refers to taxes as "fees, levies, and penalties". That is all John Roberts needed.

reply
Morning... to Rebel Yell 2012/07/03 15:50:32

+1
Making so much sense Rebel Yell!

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linda.b... to Rebel Yell 2012/07/06 00:40:11

I agree

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kir 2012/07/03 14:40:42

Undecided

I'm not sure why he did it exactly but it seems to be politically motivated no matter how you look at it. It seems he either buckled under threats, played politics by thinking that labeling the mandate a tax would be better for Republicans, or just didn't want to make it look like the court was a conservative court.

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ordman 2012/07/03 14:36:20

Roberts outfoxed everyone and boxed Obamacare and the Democrats into a corner.

+1
Who was it that said that elections have consequences? Who? That's right President Elect Obama on 11/5/2008. Chief Justice John Roberts said “It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices." Justice Roberts may have just done for the Romney campaign what it couldn’t do for itself. Energize the base and to remind the independent moderate voter that just because you don’t vote for a Liberal Progressive for President that, that in its self doesn’t make you a racist.
Nothing wakes you up faster than cool bucket of water in the face. I’m willing to bet that when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America votes on 6th November 2012 that it won’t be for President Obama.

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kir to ordman 2012/07/03 14:41:40

How does labeling Obamacare a tax help the Republicans? That means Mitt also raised taxes and incorrectly labeled it a penalty. In any case, that's disgusting if that's why he did it. From now on the federal government will have the authority to tax you for not doing something that it wants you to do.

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ordman to kir 2012/07/03 14:57:23

How does labeling Obamacare a tax help the Republicans? Because sometimes no matter how many times you tell a child that the stove is hot, well there just going to have to touch it anyway.

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kir to ordman 2012/07/03 15:05:29

Yes; that's true. You still haven't answered my question. If the Republicans didn't stupidly pick a big government politician like Romney who with the help of the progressive Ted Kennedy shoved a huge tax hike on the citizens of Mass. through the creation of Romneycare then yes, I could see how it would be a help, but Romney has to run scared from the claim that the mandate is a tax.

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Reichstolz 2012/07/03 14:31:09

Roberts buckled under political pressure.

He is a product of the Washington bubble, more concerned about his standing among the political elite than the constitution he took an oath to uphold.

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